ALICE FORDHAM, BYLINE: A good place to meet Iraq's rebellious Sunni tribal leaders is the neighboring country of Jordan. Last month, in his house on a sleepy street in the capital Amman, I met Sheikh Ahmed Dabbash.

AHMED DABBASH: (Foreign language spoken).

FORDHAM: "We fought side-by-side with al-Qaida against the Americans," he says. This neatly bearded man has a PhD in religious sciences, but he's better known as a leader in the Islamic Army - a group of Sunni militants the U.S. spent a lot of blood and bullets trying to eliminate before pulling out troops in 2011.

DABBASH: (Foreign language spoken).

FORDHAM: Now his group is in a de facto alliance with al-Qaida's successor, ISIS.

Its now or never folks ISIS won't stop they must be stopped. And with the greatest of haste and force available.

etained policemen standing trial on charges of wiretapping have claimed that they were prevented from putting suspects linked to the al-Qaeda terrorist organization and other groups affiliated with the Islamic State of Iraq and Levant (ISIL) under close surveillance.
The defense testimony of the policemen was heard at the 9th İzmir High Criminal Court, where 32 police officers are standing trial after they were detained in a number of provinces across Turkey on Aug. 19 on accusations of illegal wiretapping.

Of those 32, 11 were placed under arrest in İzmir. Among those arrested include former Batman Police Chief Hasan Ali Okan. Most of the officers detained were involved in a tender-rigging investigation in İzmir as well as in an investigation into an espionage ring allegedly involving members of the military.

Muhammed Suad Çelen, one of the policemen who delivered his defense statement, said all the wiretapping activities were conducted legally and with a court decision, adding that there was no way the policemen could have benefited from the wiretapping.

... Çelen's lawyer, Ali Aksoy, said the primary reason for the trial is his client's investigation of ISIL. He added that the intelligence unit chief blocked him from conducting work to expose ISIL militants.

October 07, 2014

or the last few months Turkey has actively prevented Turkish Kurds from crossing the border to help defend Kobane. Even though Turkey is a nominal member of Obama’s grand anti-ISIS coalition it has done nothing to help Kobane except to allow refugees fleeing the city to cross the Turkish border.

Kurdish requests for heavy weapons have so far fallen on deaf ears, which means that the YPG fighters in Kobane are outgunned by the US tanks and Humvees that IS took from the Iraqi army in the summer.

What explains this passivity? For one thing, Turkey will not lift a finger to do anything that might encourage or empower the Kurds, and regards Kurdish national aspirations as a greater threat to its national security than ISIS. The YPG is the fighting wing of the Democratic Union Party (PYD), the Syrian affiliate of the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK), which the Turkish government regards as a terrorist organization, as does the US.

In a choice between IS and the YPG, Turkey clearly prefers the former.

So what does Turkey have to gain at the expense of the Kurds?

The end game appears clear. Turkey will allow ISIS to become such a problem on its border AFTER the Kurds fail, then Turkey in the absence of any other power to push ISIS back will itself occupy the Kurdish areas in a ground invasion invoking its NATO membership to get support.

Telegraph: The president of Turkey has urged for ground troops to be deployed in Kobane as the key Syrian border town looks set to fall under the control of the Islamic State and of Iraq and the Levant (Isil).

The town has been under assault by Isil jihadists for more than three weeks and has become a focal point for the West's air strikes against the terrorist organisation.

On Monday, as fighting intensified around Kobane, the black flag of the Islamic State was seen flying from its buildings and a nearby hill, prompting fears that the town was about to fall under Isil control.

Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdogan has since warned that a ground operation is needed to defeat the militants, fueling concerns that US-led air strikes are doing little to halt Isil's advances.

"The terror will not be over... unless we cooperate for a ground operation," president Erdogan said in a televised speech in the eastern city of Gaziantep, adding that air strikes were not enough on their own.

And the Kurds, who fight valiantly against ISIS, will get screwed over yet again.

Turkey on the one hand will seek a Hudna with ISIS once it feels it has occupied a healthy buffer zone, while on the other hand claim it has saved the day for NATO.

ISIS' smuggled oil will still flow through Turkey and Syria.

It works out in everyone's interest, well except for the Kurds who will die to justify Turkeys actions and the US & Western powers who will be extorted to pay for the Turk's help.

*Look American's just don't think and/or act dirty enough to play in the ME. We just don't.

*I'm glad for that really. I don't want to live in a place like that. But we pay a heavy price for our naivete.

June 11, 2014

This is starting to get some buzz on Twitter, but as of now no actual confirmation that the Turkish air force is bombing ISIS positions around Mosul. The only news I can find is an Iraqi/Arabic news site and they don't cite a source. The story's focus is actually on reports that Kurdish fighters have begun engaging ISIS terrorists, with a report of the Turkish offensive kind of thrown in there. That is, if the Google translation is working.

It seems almost inconceivable to me that Turkey would insert itself here, despite my earlier speculation (wishful thinking?) that ISIS's capture of dozens of Turks including a senior diplomat might push them into the conflict. So, I can't help but wonder if the reports of airplanes bombing ISIS positions aren't coming from people on the ground, near/in Mosul? And if that's the case, how do they know it's the Turks?

News reports on Iraqi TV earlier today claimed Iraqi troops, bolstered by 'militia' (read, Iranian proxies) were beginning a major counter offensive. So, maybe what the locals are seeing are Iraqi planes beginning to bomb ISIS positions? I just don't see people on the ground being able to distinguish who's air force is engaging giving the distances we are probably talking about here and the speeds involved.

But the fact that the Kurds are taking some initiative and some air force is finally responding is good news. The question remains, though, why hadn't the Iraqi air force responded prior to this? The deserts of Western Iraq are the perfect place for a turkey shoot (no pun intended), and since ISIS vehicles tend to move in convoys it's a head scratcher as to why the big guns haven't been brought in until now (if, in fact, the reports are true).

And if this does turn out to be Turkey involved, then I have to wonder whether this is an ultra-limited engagement meant to bolster their bargaining position to get back the Turkish hostages, or whether this signals the end of the facade of civil war in Syria and Iraq and the overt recognition that this thing has become a regional, international conflict.

February 07, 2014

Here's the initial report I saw, but I'll update if I find out there's more to the story:

While the plane was in the air, one of the passengers said that there was a bomb on board and asked the plane to not land in Sabiha Gokcen (in Turkey) but rather to land in Sochi," Transportation Ministry official Habip Soluk said Friday on CNNTurk.

The passenger said the bomb was in the baggage hold, a Transportation Ministry official said.

The plane landed in Istanbul and the guy is in custody and is said to be Ukrainian.

January 14, 2014

Turkish anti-terrorist police raided the offices of an aid agency on the border with Syria on Tuesday, in part of what local media said was an operation in six cities against individuals suspected of links to al Qaeda.

The Humanitarian Relief Foundation (IHH) said police had raided its offices in the southern Turkish city of Kilis, which borders Syria, and detained one person.

The IHH came to prominence in May 2010 when Israeli marines stormed its Mavi Marmara ship to enforce a naval blockade of the Palestinian-run Gaza Strip and killed nine Turks in clashes with activists.

You'll remember it was the raid on one of the IHH's ships from Turkey trying to illegally run the blockade of Gaza that started the rift between Turkey and Israel in the first place (or, at least, made that rift much worse). Turkey demanded -- DEMANDED! -- that Israel apologize for stopping the "humanitarian aid" and killing the "activists".

Chickens, welcome home to the roost!

But it gets better. Turkish sources claim that one of those arrested was ex-Gitmo prisoner Ibrahim Sen. If true, this would be the second time the Turks arrested this guy for terrorism since his release. Apparently, being a member of al Qaeda isn't serious enough that they remand you to custody when you appeal your sentence in Turkey:

Among those arrested was Ibrahim Sen, al-Qaida's Middle East deputy, who was released from the U.S. prison camp in Cuba in 2006, Today's Zaman reported Monday.

Sen was handed over to Turkish authorities in 2008 and later sentenced by a Turkish court to six years in prison on terror charges. The case is on appeal.

Also arrested was Halis Bayancuk, the terror group's representative in Turkey.

Let's hope Turkey has rounded a corner with this one. But don't hold your breath.

May 28, 2013

The government of Turkey is building a 15-acre, $100 million mega-mosque in Lanham, Maryland. Turkey's Prime Minister Erdogan visited the site on May 15 as part of his official visit to the U.S.. The state of Maryland was officially represented at the event by its Secretary of State John McDonough.

The event was also attended by the leaders of two U.S. Muslim Brotherhood entities.

The mega-mosque is called the Turkish American Culture and Civilization Center and, according to the Muslim Link, it “will likely become the largest and most striking examples of Islamic architecture in the western hemisphere” when it is finished in 2014. The Muslim Link explicitly says it is “a project of the government of Turkey.”

On May 15, Prime Minister Erdogan spoke to hundreds of people at the construction site and said he’d come back for the opening ceremony next year. He warned the audience that there are groups promoting “Islamophobia,” branding potential critics as paranoid bigots. Erdogan recently said that “Islamophobia” and Zionism are equivalent to fascism and anti-Semitism, saying they are a “crime against humanity.”

January 24, 2013

Lego has been accused of racism by the Turkish community over a Star Wars model that supposedly resembles one of Istanbul’s most revered mosques.

Not only does the model kind of sort of look like Hagia Sophia Turkey says the characters at Jabba's house hurt religious and cultural feelings, of Asians(Muslims) and Orientals(Muslims) because they portray them as armed, violent and prone to crimes like say terrorism, slavery, murder.

Which is kind of funny because the Hagia Sophia is a former Christian Basilica which was taken by when Mehmed the Conqueror. Mehmed's brutality was only surpassed by Vlad the Impaler.

Mehmed II ordered the 14-year old son of the Grand Duke Lucas Notaras brought to him "for his pleasure". When the father refused to deliver his son to such a fate he had them both decapitated on the spot.

Some dispute the account of Mehmed the Conqueror's gayness due to the fact that it he killed all the witnesses.

Furthermore according to Ottoman sources Notaras and all the other Christian dignitaries in the city were executed for purely political reasons.

January 23, 2013

And the the real kicker here? Even those these morons are harassing the wrong people, I think they're right. We should go home.

Turkey is in NATO because of Cold War necessities. Earth to the Pentagon: we won the Cold War. We don't need the Turks as allies anymore. Is there really a good reason why we're still there? If there is, I don't see it.

January 18, 2013

A Turkish construction firm that sponsored an antisemitic film and has featured the film’s actors in advertisement campaigns has gone bankrupt. According to Turkey’s Hurriyet daily, a court has passed an injunction protecting Ukra İnşaat against its creditors. The Istanbul-based firm recently requested a delay in proceedings, which will be considered at the conclusion of the current legal process.

Suck it, bitches

The first film, “Valley of the Wolves Iraq,” released in 2006, depicted a Jewish army doctor who removed organs of dead American soldiers and sold them to rich people located throughout the world. The film was described by the Wall Street Journal as “a cross between ‘American Psycho’ in uniform and the Protocols of the Elders of Zion.”

June 10, 2012

The United States blocked Israel's participation in the Global Counterterrorism Forum's (GCTF) first meeting in Istanbul on Friday, despite Israel's having one of the most extensive counterterrorism experiences in the world.

Israel was excluded from the meeting due to fierce objections by Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, a Washington-based source told Globes news.

According the State Department’s website, the GCTF, which was established in September 2011, aims at “strengthening the global counterterrorism (CT) architecture in a manner that complements and reinforces the CT work of existing multilateral bodies.”

Twenty-nine countries are participating in the GCTF, ten of which are Arab and/or Muslim countries.

Never mind Erdogan refuses to call Hamas a terrorist organization. We certainly wouldn't want to hurt Turkey's feelings by including Israel. It isn't like Erdogan supports terrorism or anything, oh wait.

April 12, 2012

…after the Islamists came to power in 2002 and opened the gates of gradual Islamization of Turkey, after 8 decades of strict secular rule, Turkey has risen to be the world’s “number one honor killing country“, with a killing rate 5 times higher than that of Pakistan, known to be notorious for honor killing[...]

In Pakistan, notorious for honor killing, Human Rights Commission of Pakistan recorded 943 cases of such killings in 2011, and about 100 less in 2010. That means Turkey had about double the number of honor killings in 2009 as compared the number honor-killed in Pakistan in 2011. Given Pakistan has a population of 177 million as compared to Turkey’s 75 million, Turkey has an honor-killing rate, which is greater than 5 times higher than that of Pakistan. So, undoubtedly, Turkey is the number one country in the world in terms of total number of honor killings happening every year, and its honor-killing rate is also nearly at the top amongst all countries in the world[More..]

November 22, 2011

Police have detained 18 people suspected of having ties to the al-Qaeda extremist network in central Turkey....

Many documents were seized in police raids and searches at various locations were in progress as the Hürriyet Daily News went to print late yesterday. The operation was the result of more than one year of surveillance and the suspects were preparing for an attack

September 29, 2011

Insane..Bahadır Baruter's drawing was published in a weekly humor magazine and some were offended and filed suit:

...Baruter's caricature depicted an imam and believers praying in a mosque. One of the characters is talking to God on his cellphone and asking to be pardoned from the last part of the prayer because he has errands to run.

Within the wall decorations of the mosque, Baruter hid[circled in red..ed] the words, "There is no Allah, religion is a lie." The cartoon was published in the weekly "Penguen" humor magazine.

September 27, 2011

We've seen these kinds of lists naming names of "legitimate" targets in Israel before. Specifically, lists of Israelis claimed to have taken part in Operation Cast Lead (can't find the link, if you have it send it to me).

The Turks claim the data mining is about prosecuting members of the Israeli military they accuse of being involved in "war crimes", but I, for one, am not buying it.

We all know that none of these alleged "criminals" will ever make it into a Turkish court. In fact, all indications are that the list is entirely wrong as to the people involved. In other words, most of the names on the list are innocent Israelis who had nothing to do with the incident in which a Turkish vessel was illegally trying to get around Israel's embargo of the terrorist run Gaza strip.

Given that, it seems obvious to me that the real reason the list is being published is to give license to murder more Israelis.

A Turkish newspaper published the names and photographs on Monday of more than 140 Israeli soldiers who the paper said took part in the raid on a Turkish flotilla to Gaza last year that ended with the death of nine passengers and created a diplomatic standoff between Turkey and Israel....

Television analysts in Israel noted that the list included some well-known Israeli figures who had long since left the military, which they said gave some indication of its accuracy....

The newspaper, a pro-government daily, reported that a senior Turkish prosecutor had authorized the investigation, which filtered all available film and other visuals from the flotilla raid for facial images that could be matched to photographs on social networks like Facebook and Twitter.

Yeah, I know, when has any one in the Middle East needed license to murder Jews?

June 11, 2011

Death threats, allegedly from the Turkish NGO that helped organize the 2010 Gaza protest flotilla, led to the cancellation of a concert in Istanbul by Oscar-winning Israeli musician Yuval Ron, Turkish newspaper Hurriyet reported on Friday.

The IHH Humanitarian Relief Foundation has denied making the threats, but confirmed that it did oppose the holding of the concert.

Ron, the leader of a musical ensemble that includes Muslim, Jewish and Christian artists, told Hurriyet on Friday, “I am very sorry, I had to cancel the concert because of the safety of my team members.

I don't know much about him except for Googling. Watched a few videos at YouTube( one I found very interesting is below the fold) and checked his blog out.

It's a shame artists like him, and those who are in his musical ensemble, received the death threats. It isn't like they are all Jewish, or maybe that is why.

IHH sponsored "freedom flotilla" Mavi Marmara in 2010 was anything but. Turkish PM Erdogan was very much aware of their intentions..they were prepared to die as martyrs. Some had automatic weapons that the IDF finally let known.

‘Three Religions’ concert to be held in Istanbul canceled at last minute after IHH and other Islamic organizations claim Israel participation in event ‘unacceptable’ and a ‘provocation’.

A Turkish concert meant to bridge the religious divide between Jews, Christians and Muslims was canceled at the last minute Thursday due to pressure from a Turkish humanitarian NGO, according to a Channel 10 report.

March 21, 2011

The latest documents from Wikileaks shows growing concern among U. S. officials over Fethullah Gulen’s attempts to create a New Islamic World and the “braining washing of students” that takes place at his charter schools within the United States and throughout the Muslim world.

The cable that speaks of the “brain-washing” was written in 2009 by James Jeffrey, the U. S. Ambassador to Turkey.

In the cable, Mr. Jeffrey describes Gülen as a “political phenomena” in Turkey even when he resides “in exile” within a mountain fortress in Pennsylvania. He says the Gülen movement has gained control of Turkey’s government and dictates Turkish policy which has become increasing anti-Israeli and anti-American. It points out that the leaders of the Justice and Development Party (Adalet ve Kalkinma or AKP) who now govern Turkey, including Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan and President Abdullah Gul, appear to serve as Gulen’s puppets.

Other newly released cables state that Gulen’s disciples now direct the country’s 200,000 strong police force - - a force that remains in conflict with the military, which sees the group as an enemy.

In recent months, Turkish military leaders, and other critics of the AKP, have been arrested in the dead of night and whisked off to detention cells.

According to NurettinVeren, who served as Fethullah Gulen’s right-hand man “There are imam security directors; imams wearing police uniforms. Many police commissioners get their orders from imams.

“It is not possible to confirm the Turkish police are under the control of the Gülen community members, but we have not met anybody who denies it,” one cable said.

The most dangerous Islamist on planet earth

Gulen has been labeled “the most dangerous Islamist on planet earth,” although he has failed to attract the attention of U. S. counter-terrorism experts and the national media.[Read the rest]

January 21, 2011

Restrictions on alcohol are intensifying under the rule of the Islamist AK Party

Turkey – once a relatively liberal haven in the Muslim world, is Islamising fast under it’s AK Party government – and restrictions on alcohol are at the forefront of the push:

Guests at the Istanbul premiere of a new vampire film were among the first victims of new curbs on alcohol that have raised secularist fears Islamic strictures may be encroaching on everyday life.

The rules, announced earlier this month by the tobacco and alcohol watchdog, tighten up license requirements for serving alcohol, impose restrictions on alcohol marketing and limits sales to designated areas in stores.

But the move has revived secularist accusations that Prime Minister Tayyip Erdoǧan’s government is interfering in people’s lifestyles and imposing Islamic values.

December 02, 2010

Turkish prime minister visibly upset by leaked cables which claim he has eight Swiss bank accounts with private funds and surrounds himself with fawning advisors; says US must 'hold cable writers accountable for slander

Further deterioration in ties: The Israeli government initiated the massive WikiLeaks disclosure this week in the aims of pushing Turkey into a corner, a senior official in Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan charged Wednesday.

"We should look at the countries that are satisfied by the leak, and Israel is very satisfied," said Huseyin Celik, the deputy chairman of Turkey's ruling party.

I guess they forgot Israel is behind earthquakes/solar flares/full moons/eclipse/global warming/floods/hurricanes/tornadoes to name a few...

August 17, 2010

A Palestinian man gained entry to the Turkish Embassy in Tel Aviv on Tuesday evening, claimed he was armed, and demanded safe passage to Ankara, before being injured by a gunshot apparently fired by Embassy security staff.

The man has been named as Nadim Injaz, of Ramallah. Police said he was involved in a similar incident at the British embassy in Tel Aviv in 2006.

Injaz threatened to use a firearm and flammable liquids, according to reports, before being shot in the leg by Embassy security staff and lightly injured.

Police counter-terrorism forces and Magen David Adom paramedics converged outside the building, but were not allowed entry by the Embassy, as the building is considered Turkish sovereign territory.

As helicopters circled outside the Turkish embassy building in Tel Aviv on Tuesday, Foreign Ministry officials attempted to coordinate assistance to the embassy.

Conflicting reports emerged about Injaz's identity and background following the incident. One of the men's associates told Israel Radio that the suspect feared he was being pursued Israeli and Palestinian intelligence services because, he believes, he has information that could "bring down several senior Palestinian Authority officials."

Channel 2 first claimed Injaz was a former collaborator with Israel from Ramallah, who had been pressured by the Shin Bet into trying to kill Fatah leader Marwan Barghouti. Since he refused to do so, he claimed, the Shin Bet has been seeking his demise. Recently, it left him at a West Bank crossing point, but he refused to cross into PA-controlled territory, fearing he would be killed there.

But Channel 2 later said the suspect's claims regarding Barghouti and the Shin Bet were baseless.

June 28, 2010

I thought perhaps the picture might be misleading. A Nazi flag at a rally usually doesn't indicate support of fascism, rather it usually indicates that those at the rally are accusing those they are protesting of being fascists.

And it has always been fashionable -- if not completely ironic -- among the hardcore Left and among Islamists to compare Israel to Nazi Germany.

But a quick Google translation from Turkish of the words under the swastika renders it "hands of health". Not sure what that means.

June 23, 2010

We are pleased to notify you that we have learned from informed sources that IHH Activist and Former Turkish MP Ahmet Faruk Unsal was indeed denied a visa when he attempted to enter the United States for a speaking engagement on Thursday, June 17th.

Thanks to your commitment, we gathered over 24,500 signatures for our petition urging the State Department to investigate IHH activists and it is clear that our voices were heard.

Kewl....a little late to inform me but still kewl. Why let the IHH supporters go on speaking tours in the US? We have heard enough of their BS regarding the Turkish Flotilla.

I am not one for petitions unless they are important. Glad i signed and this arsehole was denied a visa.

BTW, I attempted to post a image of him but the sites that had images resulted in my receiving a warning from Norton the site wasn't safe...hmmm. So screw the image of this IHH jihadi supporter.

June 21, 2010

Iran has backed down for the second time in two weeks on the attempt to launch two ships to Gaza, two days after the United States and Israel sent a dozen warships through the Suez Canal and towards a possible confrontation.

The cancelled water project is not the first sign of Turkey's anger over the Gaza boats incident. Turkey has also recalled its ambassador, and has frozen a plan to supply Israel with natural gas from Russia using an underwater pipeline.

The cancellation of the gas project is unlikely to cause Israeli economic harm, as Israeli firms have discovered a major gas field off the coast of Haifa.

June 18, 2010

The United Nations Correspondents Association recently screened a film for foreign journalists that purported to show Israel attacking innocent activists. An Israeli request to show a second film that would put the events of the first in a more accurate light was originally granted, then denied at the last minute.

The screening was organized by the president of the Correspondents Association, Giampaolo Pioli, who invited correspondents to see an “Israeli attack on human rights activists.”

The film shown was shot by one of the passengers on a Gaza-bound flotilla that aimed to break Israel's naval blockade of the Hamas-controlled region[...]

The footage shows Israeli troops preparing to board the vessel, then switches to scenes in which passengers treat the wounded.

Mirit Cohen, spokeswoman for Israel's UN delegation, asked to attend the event and show a film prepared by the IDF Spokesperson's unit. The IDF has released a film showing members of the pro-terrorist Turkish group IHH on the Mavi Marmara attacking soldiers with metal clubs and throwing one soldier overboard; a second film shows the ship's Chief Officer testifying that the violent attack on soldiers was premeditated.

I am out of polite words to express the way I feel right now. Feck you UNCA is all I can say safely.

The Foreign Ministry said the footage was found among the possessions of one of the flotilla's passengers.

On Wednesday, the IHH said the next Gaza flotilla it plans to deploy will set sail in the second half of July and will include at least six aid ships. Details of the new Turkish flotilla were given to members of the European Parliament. According to the organizers, additional ships are slated to join the flotilla.

June 17, 2010

It was early afternoon when the mob surged down an alley of neat rose bushes and halted outside Zarifa's house. The Kyrgyz men broke into her courtyard and sat Zarifa down next to a cherry tree. They asked her a couple of questions. After confirming she was an ethnic Uzbek, they stripped her, raped her and cut off her fingers. After that they killed her and her small son, throwing their bodies into the street. They then moved on to the next house.

"They were like beasts," Zarifa's neighbour, Bakhtir Irgayshon, said today, pointing to the gutted bedframe where she had been assaulted. A few pots and pans remained; the rest of the family home was a charred ruin. Zarifa's husband, Ilham, was missing, Irgayshon said, probably dead. Only his mother, Adina, survived the Kyrgyz-instigated conflagration that engulfed the neighbourhood of Cheremushki last Friday.

The scale of the ethnic killing that took place in Osh – as well as in other towns and villages in southern Kyrgyzstan – was grimly obvious. In the next street were the remains of another victim. He burned to death in his bed. Not much was left, only a jigsaw-like spine and hip. Nearby, Uzbek survivors were retrieving the bodies of seven small children. They had been incinerated, together with their mother, while cowering in a dark cellar.

Witnesses said the attacks by the Kyrgyz population on the Uzbek minority were attempted genocide[...]

"We're hardworking people. We were never nomadic like the Kyrgyz. We never lived in yurts. For the past 2,000 years we've built stone houses," Rustam said. He acknowledged that the town's Uzbeks were usually better off than their Kyrgyz neighbours. "Since the Silk Road, we've been involved in commerce and trade. We are successful. The Kyrgyz are jealous and resent this."

9, yes 9 jihadi martyred (they prayed they would be) on the Turkish Flotilla of hate compared to 100,000 murders committed by Kyrgyz's against the Uzbeks! Islam have anything to do with it? Yes, it does. Hatred of Jews have anything to do with it? Yes, it does.

"The revolution is over. ... We have won ... we are in control here." The rebel is crouching atop an armoured personal carrier punctured by bullets. This is a rasping, hoarse voice. "We are the security." He is in his 20s and draped in the blood-red flag of Kyrgyzstan, whose golden emblem falls over his hunched back as he stares down from this wreck of a vehicle. "Everything is now... calm here." His eyes are glazed, sleep-deprived. Wild. Around us, dawn is creeping over Bishkek and smells of gunpowder. Plumes of smoke are slowly rising from smouldering ruins. The last crackling of AK-47s fell silent only hours before.

"The people have acted. ... Bakiyev is no longer the power in Kyrgyzstan."

He is surrounded by 10 other exhausted faces, shattered glass from stormed government buildings crunching under their feet. They are hostile and loiter in a pack in the blueish light. The night was filled by the ricochets of live rounds, the crack of shotguns, and the sporadic, clattering drone of machine guns. Above us is a ripped-apart concrete edifice that three days ago was the bureau of the president's feared prosecutors. Inside, ceilings have partially fallen in and the floor is awash with debris. This is destruction made of piles of stamped paper, gnarled metal beams, bashed tables, overturned cabinets, and cracked tiles, blended into chaos.

"The snipers fired at us. ... They fired through this truck ... They hit a woman...!"

The older man in charge bangs his hand on the punctured tires. He is wearing a traditional, elf-like Kyrgyz hat. Eyes are reddened. Then he gestures to our right past the empty beer bottle perched on the metal armour of the dead APC.

"They were shooting from up there. "

The finger points at the ruined White House. All windows have been shattered and blackened burn marks mar the facade. It is now a gutted, looted ruin. The corpse of power itself. Toughs wrapped in the flag have pieced together the ornate railings that were ripped apart when insurrection struck and mobs stormed the building.

A placard hangs in a prominent spot on the building. Black-painted words, in Russian so that foreigners like me can read them. "Dirty Jews and all those like Maxim Bakiyev have no place in Kyrgyzstan."

"We captured the building ... Lots of people died, but now we are in control." The older man waves his laminated membership card of an opposition party in my face and grins at the placard.

Update: If you are unaware, the US has a air base in Manas, the main transit hub for troops and equipment destined for Afghanistan. A senior Kyrgyz official is threatening to close it if Britain doesn't extradite ex-president's son. Kyrgyz government is accusing him of organising violence against Uzbeks.

The return of hacktivism? I doubt it, because no good deed goes unpunished and in the US we've seen a number of "hacktivists" taken to task with various forms of official threats.

We can only hope that the Israelis are better at turning a blind eye to this kind of "criminal" activity than the US government. In the meantime, if you know this dude, do us all a favor and congratulate him on a job well done.

An Israeli hacker managed to break into the website of Turkish IHH group, which organized the Gaza flotilla, disabling the organization's fundraising mechanism for a few hours....

"The real war today is online. I spent an entire week exploring the site, a few hours each night, until I succeeded," he said...

However, the Holon hacker chose not to completely disable the website, but rather, inserted new content into it. For example, he replaced a large photo of the Marmara vessel with an image of an Israeli fighter jet, and a caption which read: "Yes, we can."

A New York hotel is staking its claim to have invented a new hospitality niche – birth tourism. The Marmara Manhattan offers “an exclusive package for new mothers that wish to give birth in the USA”, with the additional bonus of the newborn child gaining US citizenship.

The hotel, which is part of the Turkish hospitality chain, exploits the 14th amendment to the US constitution, which states that all children born on American soil “are citizens of the United States and of the state wherein they reside”.

Nice, time to close that loophole. Arizona has already targeted it, but of course they are raaaaaaaaaaacist. Hmmph

Think of all the nice Turkish Muslims becoming citizens this way... They believe in separation of church & state, right? They believe in freedom of religion, right? Their gobermint sponsors rides on nice little Marmar named hospitality flotilla to give aide to the poor Gazan's right?